During the start of this canning
season I have had the pleasure of seeing some new faces on my FB page. They are
sharing their work and telling me that its been a long time since they have
canned anything but now are jumping in with both feet. Many have had
experiences with their grandparents that left lasting memories and back in the
kitchen with that mental picture has given them some new found calm and peace.

Many in my family don't get why I
do so much canning and for hours on end. I have been late to this craft being
in my 40's when I started. It's never to late to start but the family wants to
know why. I guess my thought is it gives me that calm and peace when I am
canning that I can't find anywhere else. It's not cooking for me where in the
end someone will sit down when I'm done and in no more than twenty minutes it
will be gone.It's a sense of
accomplishment that I didn't waste, I can provide for later, and the pantry
tells me that my family won't go hungry when times are tight.

I know that many of you come to
Canning Homemade strictly for the recipes. Some don't even read the stuff above
the name of the recipe. It's important for me to remember to reflect on those
that contribute so graciously, their stories, their recipes, and the hope of
sharing with others not just in the US but around the world.

Elizabeth's story is just like many
others. She has been away from canning for some time and forgot how much she
enjoyed it. She has fond memories of canning with her grandmother and now
contributes her story through her jars with Canning Homemade and SB Canning.
This is Elizabeth's Nectarine Upside Down Cake Conserve. Remember a conserve is
a recipe with some kind of nut added. It looks delicious and really like the
idea of the extracts adding some interesting flavors to the final product.
Thank you Elizabeth for sharing your work and your story!

Cooking: In a stainless steel pot add nectarines and 1 cup sugar
and heat over medium for a strong simmer. Cover and let simmer for 5 minutes.
Combine ½ cup sugar with 6 T. Ball Pectin and stir into fruit. Bring it back to
a simmer and then stir in the remainder of white and brown sugar. Bring the
mixture to a hard simmer and cook until the recipe sheets off a metal spoon.
Add the vanilla and butter extract. Remove from heat and gently stir in
the nuts and fill jars.

Processing: Ladle jam into hot, sterilized half pint canning jars,
leaving 1/4" headspace. Remove air bubbles and refill if necessary.
Wipe rims, and add hot lids and rings. Place the jars in the water bath
making sure that the water covers each of the jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add hot
water to the canner if it doesn't measure up. Cover the pot and turn up the
heat under the canner and wait for the water to start boiling. Once the water
has come to a boil start your timer for 10 minutes. When complete turn off the
heat and remove the cover and let the jars sit for another few minutes. Remove
the jars and place them back on the dishtowel in a place that they will sit
overnight to cool. Do not touch or move them till the next morning.

Sealing: Sometime in the next hour your jars will be making a
"pinging" or "popping" noise. That is the glass cooling and
the reaction of the lids being sucked into the jar for proper sealing. Some
recipes may take overnight to seal. Check your lids and reprocess any jars that
did not seal.

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Altitude Adjustments

The gel point method is also noted in many cookbooks and is a process to test the gel of a jam, jelly or preserve. There are two methods of testing using a spoon or a plate.

SHEET TEST

Dip a cold metal spoon into the boiling soft spread. Lift the spoon and hold it horizontally with edge down so that the syrup runs off the edge. As the mixture cooks, the drops will become heavier and will drop off the spoon separately but two at a time. When the two drops join together and “sheet” off the spoon, the gel stage has been reached.

FREEZER TEST

Chill a small saucers in the freezer. Place a teaspoonful of soft spread on the chilled saucer and place in the freezer for 1 minute. Remove the saucer from the freezer and push the edge of the spread with your finger. A mixture that has reached the gel stage will be set, and the surface will wrinkle when the edge is pushed.